Which portable screens work good in direct sunlight? (Gameboy Color?)

[WCP]

Most handheld gaming systems look like absolute crap in sunlight (direct or indirect). The screen get's totally washed out, and you can't really see anything. Yet, the other day I was playing some Gameboy Color, and the room was quite sunny, and I could still see the screen quite well. In fact, I could almost see the screen better when getting closer to have sunlight directly on the screen (maybe it actually was directly on the screen). Anyways, it just made me think that there are probably some other handhelds that actually look good in sunlight.

It's kinda funny that the systems are portable, but if you take them outside, they are pretty much useless, at least with the modern gaming systems. GameBoy Color seems to almost look better out in the sunshine. Right? Or is it just me?

[Oldskool]

The original Gameboy Advance looks quite amazing in direct light.

I agree with you on them not being truly portable because you are limited to playing games inside. Turning the light off on the handheld doesn't help too much either...

Personally, I'd rather have it look better in the dark than in the light.. because most people are inside when they are playing.

[Zing]

The systems that rely on reflected light do look best in direct sunlight. The original Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy Color, even the first model DS! Note that the DS Lite and GBA SP with backlight are almost unplayable in direct sunlight. The Game Boy Micro also fails.

When I was heavy into the DS, I used the original DS for this very reason. Most of my playing was done outside.

[jb143]

Note that the DS Lite and GBA SP with backlight are almost unplayable in direct sunlight.

The DS Lite is near unplayable in sunlight but I found the SP to look pretty good. I think the backlight might need to be turned to full brightness though.

The Lynx also has that sun shield thing but I've never actually tried it to see how well it works.

In general though, anything with a reflective type screen will look better in sunlight than a screen with a backlight. Even if you can turn the backlight off, it won't get the benefits of a reflective backing behind the screen of a non-backlit system.

[VertigoProcess]

The DS Lite is near unplayable in sunlight but I found the SP to look pretty good. I think the backlight might need to be turned to full brightness though.

The Lynx also has that sun shield thing but I've never actually tried it to see how well it works.

In general though, anything with a reflective type screen will look better in sunlight than a screen with a backlight. Even if you can turn the backlight off, it won't get the benefits of a reflective backing behind the screen of a non-backlit system.

Note there are 2 models of the sp one with a lighter brighter button and one with a light off light on switch... the light on light off button one is dimmer then then other one... one might be better then the other in sunlight...

[jb143]

Note there are 2 models of the sp one with a lighter brighter button and one with a light off light on switch... the light on light off button one is dimmer then then other one... one might be better then the other in sunlight...

He specified the one with the backlight so that is the one I commented on, and If I remember correctly, putting it on full brightness helped quite a bit. But you're right, with the earlier frontlit SP, turning off the light should work better in the sun because it uses a reflective type screen.

[BlastProcessing402]

I've tried my GBASP (frontlit version, tried w/ light on and light off) and original DS (tried backlight on and off) and neither one has been very good in sunlight. Even if I take them in the shade the ambient sunlight outside is often too much if it's a particularly sunny day and the whole screen winds up washed out and barely visible. Laptops I've tried outside get similar results, so I'm not blaming Nintendo for this, I just chalk it up to a limitation of LCD technology. (Not that I'm sure any other screen type would fare better).

[VertigoProcess]

I've tried my GBASP (frontlit version, tried w/ light on and light off) and original DS (tried backlight on and off) and neither one has been very good in sunlight. Even if I take them in the shade the ambient sunlight outside is often too much if it's a particularly sunny day and the whole screen winds up washed out and barely visible. Laptops I've tried outside get similar results, so I'm not blaming Nintendo for this, I just chalk it up to a limitation of LCD technology. (Not that I'm sure any other screen type would fare better).

Well my phone seems to do well in sunlight, but my tablet is horrible... hmm

[kedawa]

The NGPC has the best non-lit screen I've ever seen on a handheld game system.